And with this in mind, time to have a look at what election results would be without Scotland. This assumes that the political history in England, Wales and Northern Ireland runs the same as in the real history.

We begin with July 1945:

Labour - 356

Conservative - 163*

Liberal - 12

Ulster Unionist - 9

National Liberal - 8

Independent - 7

Irish Nationalist - 2

Independent Labour - 2

Independent National - 2

Communist - 1

Common Wealth - 1

National - 1

Independent Progressive - 1

Independent Ulster Unionist - 1

[* Includes the sitting Speaker, Douglas Clifton-Brown, MP for Hexham]

Labour majority 145

February 1950:

Labour - 278

Conservative - 246*

National Liberal - 11

Ulster Unionist - 10

Liberal - 7

Irish Nationalist - 2

[* Includes the sitting Speaker, Clifton-Brown, MP for Hexham]

Labour majority 3

October 1951:

Conservative - 264*

Labour - 260

National Liberal - 13

Ulster Unionst - 9

Liberal - 5

Irish Nationalist - 2

Irish Labour - 1

[* Includes William Morrison, MP for Cirencester & Tewkesbury, who would be elected Speaker after the election]

[* Includes Harry Hylton-Foster, MP for Cities of London & Westminster, who would be elected Speaker after the election]

Conservative/National Liberal/Ulster Unionist majority 108

October 1964:

Labour - 274

Conservative - 262*

Ulster Unionist - 12

National Liberal - 6

Liberal - 5

[* Includes the sitting Speaker, Hylton-Foster, MP for Cities of London & Westminster]

Conservative/National Liberal/Ulster Unionist majority 0

An interesting result, with the sitting Government returned with exactly half the voting MPs. By-election chnages would have pushed the Government into a minority and the Liberals would hold the balance of power.

This is an era before the rise of Plaid Cymru, the Democratic Unionist Party and the Social Democratic & Labour Party, so MPs basically fell into 3 categories - Conservative & allies, Labour, Liberal. These days a party could go some way below an overall majority and theoretically still be able to govern as a minority, as long as the other parties didn't gang up. In the 1960s, if you lost your majority, the other main party would simply need Liberal support to oust you.

But who would be Prime Minister? In October 1963, Harold Macmillan resigned and the Conservative party chose Alec Douglas-Home as the new Prime Minister. The problem was that he was a member of the House of Lords, and so disclaimed his peerage under the Peerage Act 1963 and in a November 1963 by-election was elected MP for Kinross & West Perthshire, in Scotland.

So, in our scenario, he would have to contest a non-Scottish seat. Which one?

One that springs to mind is Luton, which had been vacant since the National Liberals' Charles Hill had resigned in June 1963 to become Chairman of the Independent Television Authority. So, Douglas-Home could have been the National Liberal candidate for Luton - but in the November 1963 by-election the seat was won by Labour's William Howie. In theory, Douglas-Home could then have found another seat to contest, but his authority would have been badly damaged.

Another option is a bit more leftfield. In June 1963, David Campbell, the Ulster Unionist MP for Belfast South, had died. How about Douglas-Home serving as Prime Minister while representing that seat? How different would Northern Ireland politics have been if there had been a Prime Minister sitting for a Belfast constituency? Or at the February 1974 general election, would Douglas-Home, as a holder of a Great Office of State (Foreign & Commonwealth Secretary) and a former Prime Minister, be the biggest scalp claimed by the Unionists opposed to the Sunningdale Agreement?

A third option is the safe one. In November 1963, Douglas-Home had John Hare, the MP for Sudbury & Woodbridge (whom he had appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster), elevated to the peerage - and hence triggering a by-election. It could be a simple swap, with Douglas-Home able to stand in a safe Suffolk seat.

Now, you may have noticed that the earldom of Home is a title in the peerage of Scotland, not in the peerage of the United Kingdom, and assumed that Douglas-Home would not have been eligible to sit in the House of Lords if Scotland had been independent, so if he wanted a political career at Westminster he would already have had to be an MP. However, he also held the barony of Douglas in the peerage of the United Kingdom - in our scenario this would be the only peerage he would have to disclaim, and could remain Earl of Home while Prime Minister.

How would this election have been triggered? Douglas-Home losing a vote of confidence and calling an election? Or Labour's Harold Wilson becoming Prime Minister through a deal with the Liberals and going for an early election for a real mandate?

This election is the National Liberals' last one, as will shortly be absorbed into the Conservative party.

June 1970:

Conservative - 299

Labour - 244*

Ulster Unionist - 8

Liberal - 3

Unity - 2

Republican Labour - 1

Protestant Unionist - 1

Independent Labour - 1

[* Includes the sitting Speaker, King, MP for Southampton Itchen]

Conservative/Ulster Unionist majority 56

February 1974:

Conservative - 276*

Labour - 261

Liberal - 11

Ulster Unionist - 7

Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party - 3

Plaid Cymru - 2

Democratic Labour - 1

Social Democratic & Labour Party - 1

Democratic Unionist Party - 1

Independent Labour - 1

[* Includes the sitting Speaker, Selwyn Lloyd, MP for Wirral]

Conservative "majority" -13 or Conservative/Liberal majority 9

In the real world, Labour's 19 seat advantage over the Conservatives in Scotland, as well as a strong showing by the Scottish National Party meant Labour had a 4-seat lead over the Conservatives in what was not just a hung Parliament but one where even a Labour/Liberal coalition would be a minority Government.

Without Scotland, the Conservatives - rather than Labour - would be the largest party, and a majority administration with the Liberals would have been numerically possible. The combined Labour and Liberal MPs would have been fewer than the Conservative tally.

You might wonder whether a Conservative/Ulster Unionist Government (majority 1) was possible. By this stage, due to the Sunningdale Agreement, relations between those parties broke down irretrievably, and in some seats Ulster Unionist fought Ulster Unionist, with all 11 Unionist seats being from MPs opposed to Sunningdale.

October 1974:

Labour - 278

Conservative - 261*

Liberal - 10

Ulster Unionist - 6

Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party - 3

Plaid Cymru - 3

Social Democratic & Labour Party - 1

Democratic Unionist Party - 1

Independent Republican - 1

[* Includes the sitting Speaker, Lloyd, MP for Wirral]

Labour "majority" -7 or Labour/Liberal majority 13

In the real world, Labour won this narrowly. Without their 25-seat Scottish lead over the Conservatives, Labour would be forced down to being the largest party in a hung Parliament - and there would be the first two hung Parliaments in a row since the January/February 1910 and December 1910 elections.

May 1979:

Conservative - 317

Labour - 225*

Liberal - 8

Ulster Unionist - 5

Democratic Unionist Party - 3

Plaid Cymru - 2

Social Democratic & Labour Party - 1

Independent Republican - 1

United Ulster Unionist - 1

Independent Unionist - 1

[* Includes the sitting Speaker, George Thomas, MP for Cardiff West]

Conservative majority 71

June 1983:

Conservative - 376*

Labour - 168

Liberal - 12

Ulster Unionist - 11

Democratic Unionist Party - 3

Social Democrat - 3

Plaid Cymru - 2

Social Democratic & Labour Party - 1

Sinn Féin - 1

Ulster Popular Unionist Party - 1

[* Includes Bernard Weatherill, MP for Croydon North East, who would be elected Speaker after the election]

Conservative majority 173

June 1987:

Conservative - 366*

Labour - 179

Liberal - 10

Ulster Unionist - 9

Democratic Unionist Party - 3

Social Democrat - 3

Plaid Cymru - 3

Social Democratic & Labour Party - 3

Sinn Féin - 1

Ulster Popular Unionist Party - 1

[* Includes the sitting Speaker, Weatherill, MP for Croydon North East]

Conservative majority 153

April 1992:

Conservative - 325

Labour - 222*

Liberal Democrat - 11

Ulster Unionist - 9

Plaid Cymru - 4

Social Democratic & Labour Party - 4

Democratic Unionist Party - 3

Ulster Popular Unionist Party - 1

[* Includes Betty Boothroyd, MP for West Bromwich West, who would be elected Speaker after the election]

Conservative majority 72

So, no nail-biting votes in the House of Commons and the Government manages a full 5 years without becoming a minority one.

This election was followed by the resignation of Neil Kinnock as Labour leader, and John Smith, then the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, replacing him. But Smith sat for a Scottish seat.

If we look at the November 1991 elections to the Shadow Cabinet, then the top 3 - Shadow Trade & Industry Secretary Gordon Brown, Smith, and Shadow Health Secretary Robin Cook - all have Scottish seats. In fourth place is Ann Clwyd, then the Shadow Minister for Overseas Development.

With Smith unable to stand, is it too far fetched to think that Tony Blair becomes Leader of the Opposition two years early?

May 1997:

Labour - 363*

Conservative - 165

Liberal Democrat - 36

Ulster Unionist - 10

Plaid Cymru - 4

Social Democratic & Labour Party - 3

Democratic Unionist Party - 2

Sinn Féin - 2

UK Unionist Party - 1

Independent - 1

[* Includes the sitting Speaker, Boothroyd, MP for West Bromwich West]

Labour majority 138

In October 2000 Boothroyd resigns and is replaced by Michael Martin, Labour MP for Glasgow Springburn. Of course, if Scotland were independent, then Martin would not be Speaker.

June 2001:

Labour - 357

Conservaive - 165

Liberal Democrat - 42

Ulster Unionist - 6

Democratic Unionist Party - 5

Plaid Cymru - 4

Sinn Féin - 4

Social Democratic & Labour Party - 3

Kidderminster Hospital & Health Concern - 1

Labour majority 127

May 2005:

Labour - 315

Conservative - 197

Liberal Democrat - 51

Democratic Unionist Party - 9

Sinn Féin - 5

Plaid Cymru - 3

Social Democratic & Labour Party - 3

Ulster Unionist - 1

Kidderminster Hospital & Health Concern - 1

Respect - 1

Indpendent - 1

Labour majority 43

May 2010:

Conservative - 306*

Labour - 217

Liberal Democrat - 46

Democratic Unionist Party - 8

Sinn Féin - 5

Plaid Cymru - 3

Social Democratic & Labour Party - 3

Green - 1

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland - 1

Independent - 1

[* Includes the sitting Speaker, John Bercow, MP for Buckingham]

Conservative majority 20

The exclusion of Scotland would have altered the results of some close elections. The 1964 one would have been effectively a dead heat (if the Liberals supported Labour) or the return of a Conservative-led Government, instead of a Labour one.

The first 1974 one could have seen the Conservatives remain in power, rather than the return of Labour.

And 2010 would have seen the Conservatives govern alone.

One thing to note is that the 1945 election - not 1997 - would have been Labour's greatest electoral victory.